Police are piecing together what may have triggered an argument that led to the murder-suicide of a White Lake Township couple.

Police have not yet identified the couple but said the husband is accused of gunning down his wife, and then taking his own life. A handgun was found at the scene.

No one answered the door of the couple’s house in the 20 block of Danforth Street Tuesday. The house, which sits on Oxbow Lake, is one of many on the dirt street.

A young mother standing outdoors said she didn’t know the couple, but heard the news.

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“It’s terrible, horrible,” she said, and hurried back indoors.

Oakland County Medical Examiner’s investigators said they were still finishing autopsies at 11 a.m. Tuesday.

The Monday incident began when the wife’s 8-year-old son from a previous relationship ran to a neighbor’s home, saying his stepfather had shot his mother and then shot himself, said White Lake Police Chief Ed Harris.

“It’s tragic,” said the neighbor who provided refuge for the boy. The neighbor did not wish to give his name.

“It’s so unexpected. I called the cops.”

Police arrived at the boy’s home in the 20 block of Danforth Drive off Elizabeth Lake Road at 9 p.m.

Officers found the 37-year-old husband and 33-year-old wife dead from gunshot wounds, said Harris. Oakland County Sheriff’s deputies and Waterford Police assisted with the incident, Harris said.

“There were no prior incidents of domestic disturbances, no prior criminal histories,” said Harris.

“We know there was an argument. The mother had told the child to pack his backpack because she was going to take him to his birth father’s.”

Police were at the home for four hours. Relatives on the west side of Michigan were being notified. The boy is in the care of his father, said Harris.

“He was the only child in the home,” he said.

The boy was “OK” Monday evening, said Harris, “but he is probably still in shock. It’s sad.”

The Violence Policy Center estimates that more than 1,380 murder-suicides take place every year, and that in most cases, the weapon used is a firearm.

Five years ago, on Wiggen Lane in White Lake Township, a son killed his parents, Barbara and Michael C. Ott. The son, now 29, was arrested and later convicted in the deaths. Barbara Ott was the deputy township clerk. Mark Andrew Ott is serving a life sentence.

Another murder-suicide happened less than 30 miles away in Inkster late Monday night. Sources reported it appeared Cindy Bailey was stabbed more than 60 times by her husband Tony before he set himself on fire in the garage.

Harris said White Lake is a great place to live, but “not immune to tragedy.”

“Sometimes these things are never apparent until they boil over as this did last night,” he said.

Contact Carol Hopkins at 248-745-4645 or carol.hopkins@oakpress.com. Follow her on Twitter @OPCarolHopkins or on Facebook @OPcarolhopkins.